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Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Thank you to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) conference organizers for another wonderful event! Our team is heading back to the office and are looking forward to continuing the discussion with all the researchers we met at our booth.

E-cigarette research

We had a wonderful Breakfast Symposium last Monday where guest speaker Dr. Laura Crotty Alexander1, SCIREQ's Vice-President Mr. David Brunet and Senior Scientist Dr. Annette Robichaud discussed what is known about e-cigarettes and what is left to be discovered and how researchers might work together towards standardization of the various parameters used to assess the impact of these devices. Many researchers gathered to share their knowledge and to begin answering some questions. Everyone agrees that more work needs to be done before we can have a clear understanding of the impact of e-cigarettes - an industry that it changing at a fast pace.

Lung volumes

The flexiVent is now capable of providing more measurements of lung volumes. The newest additions include measurements of the total and residual lung volumes (TLC/RV). As with other techniques, this is done using a computer-controlled automated manoeuvre for standardization and control of parameters. The acquisition of these new outcomes does not require the use of a separate device and can easily be preceded by comprehensive respiratory mechanics measurements typically performed with the flexiVent. Lung volume changes are sensitive to physiological or pathophysiological changes.

SCIREQ's Senior Scientist, Dr. Annette Robichaud, and R&B manager, Ms. Liah Fereydoonzad, presented their poster at ATS entitled "Automated full range pressure-volume curves in mice & rats2" which found that the automated method of constructing full range PV curves in mice proved to be equivalent to the classic, manually operated, syringe pump method. The automation of the technique alleviates some of the weaknesses of the classic technique while bringing simplicity and standardization.

1Dr. Laura Crotty Alexander is a researcher and staff physician in the VA San Diego Healthcare System and Assistant Professor at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). She obtained her doctorate degree of medicine (M.D.) from Duke University and trained in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She then stayed in the Boston area and completed a Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship training at the Harvard Medical School before moving to UCSD for a post-doctoral fellowship. She obtained a VA career development award via her research in asthma, and accepted a faculty position at UCSD in 2011.

Dr. Crotty Alexander has authored many publications on electronic cigarettes and is a leader in this field of research.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Congratulations to Dr. Blackwell's team at Vanderbilt University who recently published in Nature Communications1!

As you may know, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by obstruction in airflow, chronic inflammation, and destruction of the alveolar tissue. This group from Vanderbilt University hypothesized that secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) deficiency contributes to chronic airway inflammation and COPD disease progression.

The SCIREQ inExpose was utilized in multiple ways to gather evidence to support their theory. First, using the inExpose to deliver cigarette smoke, researchers confirmed that (SIgA) knock-out mice spontaneously develop COPD-like symptoms with similar severity to cigarette smoke exposed subjects.

Next, a lysate from a non-typeable Haemophilus influenza (NTHi), which is commonly found in COPD patients, was prepared as an aerosol solution and delivered using the inExpose to both wild-type and knock-out mice. The group then re-introduced SIgA and found an attenuated inflammatory response, suggesting SIgA limits the response to bacterial antigens in the respiratory system.

Whether through smoke or aerosol, nose-only or whole body exposure, the inExpose easily adapts to various toxicology research needs by permitting relevant and reproducible inhalation exposure models. To learn more on this product, please visit our website at www.scireq.com/inexpose.